On 30 September 2011, I [(Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon)] received a letter from the Permanent Representative of Serbia to the United Nations, requesting an urgent investigation by the United Nations “to establish all the relevant facts in connection with the use of armed force [(by KFOR)] against civilians on 27 September”, which I transmitted to the Security Council. The Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has declared that KFOR acted in conformity with its mandate and that no special investigation is warranted. — Ban Ki-moon, “Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo“, Security Council, S/2011/675, 31.10.2011.

Several months of KFOR and EULEX pressure in northern Kosovo have had little direct effect beyond straining intercommunal relations and undermining locals’ trust in the international forces. — “Kosovo and Serbia: A Little Goodwill Could Go a Long Way“, International Crisis Group, Europe Report N° 215, 02.02.2012.

The Kosovo government and states that recognise it refer to the northern municipalities as “parallel” authorities. This is misleading. […] The Serbian municipalities are the only authorities north of the Ibar; nothing is truly parallel to them. They operate pretty much as if in Serbia, although with resident UNMIK officials, who mainly communicate with minorities and have no executive powers. — International Crisis Group, “North Kosovo: Dual Sovereignty in Practice“, Europe Report Nr. 211, 14.03.2011, p. 1f.

KFOR Colonel Adolf Conrad told us that KFOR has received an order from the NATO Command in Naples to close down the alternative roads. We do not view the alternative roads leading towards central Serbia as illegal. We believe that these are legal and free roads which our citizens have been using for all these years, and their closure would be an obstacle to the freedom of movement. Serbs will not accept closing of roads, and this move reintroduces the risk of a strong protest which may include putting up barricades. — Slavisa Ristic (Bürgermeister von Zubin Potok) zitiert in “KFOR ordered to close alternative roads“, B92, 04.04.2012.

The real threat to peace in the Balkans right now appears to be NATO. In the past few days, KFOR has reportedly been informing the north Kosovo Serbs that it intends to close, in the coming days, all alternative roads from Serbia. This is meant to force the local population to use the two “official” crossings manned by EULEX with Kosovo customs. The action would be part of the broader effort to turn the current boundary into a full-fledged border controlled by Pristina. Pristina, and apparently NATO, view the alternative roads used to go around the two Gates as “illegal.” The northern local officials reportedly have warned KFOR that such action will lead them to return to the barricades and prevent all traffic, including KFOR, from traversing the north.

NATO is again going outside its UNSCR 1244 mandate for Kosovo by seeking to impose a one-sided political agenda in the north. KFOR seems aware of the possible repercussions of action to force the local Serbs to submit to Kosovo customs and police as it reportedly explained to them that the order comes from NATO HQ in Naples. — Gerard Gallucci, ehemalige UN-Repräsentant in Mitrovica in “Kosovo: NATO Set to Declare War?“, From Outside the Walls, 07.04.2012.